People say that only when you reach Bach Long Vi (Hai Phong City) can you see the vastness of the sea and sky of the Fatherland. The island is only about 3.2 km2 but is the farthest outpost island of Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin, holding a strategic position in terms of security and defense, firmly protecting the independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the Fatherland. That is also the reason why we came to Bach Long Vi in the middle of November on the Coast Guard ship 8003 of the 11th Fleet (Command of Coast Guard Region 1). The sea is calm, the salty taste spread in the wind goes straight to the sense of smell, dispelling the wonderful feeling of "a day of wandering on water" when we drifted for nearly 8 hours at sea. From the horizon, Bach Long Vi gradually appeared, with gentle hill terrain, the island looks like a hand facing down with long slender fingers clasped together. That invisible "hand" has become a place to nurture and cherish the love for the sea and islands as well as the aspirations of many households here.
A time of hardship more than the waves of the sea
Recalling the early days of arriving on the island, Mr. Tran Van Hien, the leader of the Bach Long Vi Youth Volunteer Team, could not help but feel nostalgic. More than thirty years ago, following the call of the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, 62 cadres and members from all over the country, mainly youth union members in Hai Phong, volunteered to build Bach Long Vi island district. The most important task of the Youth Volunteer Team at that time was to quickly stabilize accommodation and build infrastructure, plant trees to welcome people to the island. In particular, the Youth Volunteer Team members used their bare strength to push wheelbarrows carrying dirt and rocks to level and build foundations... in harsh weather conditions to build the Bach Long Vi Youth Volunteer Flagpole - one of the first landmarks of sovereignty from a civilian perspective on the island. Since this period, Bach Long Vi island has had 9 recruitment campaigns. The special relationship between the young man from Thai Binh and Bach Long Vi that year also led to a love affair with female volunteer soldier Vu Thi Hai Yen (from Kien Thuy, Hai Phong). The couple's love mingled with patriotism, the couple and the volunteer soldiers continued to take on projects to build houses, roads, parks, public housing... to serve the lives of households in the island district.
As one of the households that came to the island from the early days, Mr. Tran Chi Trang (residential area No. 1, Bach Long Vi district) said that while fishing far from shore, his family's boat broke its propeller and drifted to the island. At that time, the government had a policy to encourage fishermen to stay and build the island, so his family decided to stay here. Living conditions at that time were very difficult, the amount of water was very limited, some wells were shallow to the bottom, some people climbed down to get water to bathe but when they poured it on them, it was all sand and gravel. Men shaved their heads, bathed in the sea, and gave fresh water to women. Every day, people used electricity from the Youth Volunteers for 30 minutes for daily activities, but only later, around 7-10pm, did they have electricity. Food could not be preserved, so the family of 5 only had sesame salt, dried fish, and pickled vegetables.
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| The demand for transporting passengers and goods in and out of the island is always high. |
With determination to overcome difficulties and the spirit of solidarity and mutual support over more than 3 decades of construction and development, the hands and minds of the army and people of Bach Long Vi have turned barren sand and gravel fields into rows of houses, households, livestock areas, and lush vegetable gardens to stabilize life.
Since 2001, the island has been bustling since the port with a capacity of 100 boats was inaugurated. Every month, thousands of fishing boats from all over come to refuel, provide food, and take shelter from storms. The livelihoods of the people have also expanded thanks to selling water, gasoline, and food to fishing boats. The lives of the people on the island have gradually improved since 2016 when Bach Long Vi began to have 24/7 electricity thanks to the hybrid power source of wind - solar - diesel - energy storage that was built. People have electricity to run televisions, refrigerators, and air conditioners.
Along with that, the underground water source found in 2018 and the 60,000 m3 freshwater lake completed in 2020 have solved the problem of water shortage. Many houses have opened hot water bathing services and other services for fishing boats. Every time there is a monsoon, this place is lit up all night, bustling like a town on the mainland. In particular, in 2020, the Hoa Phuong ship was officially put into operation, meeting the urgent need for transportation, the transportation of goods between Bach Long Vi island district and the mainland has been convenient and timely, contributing to promoting the socio-economic development roadmap, soon turning Bach Long Vi island district into a fishing logistics service center of the fishing grounds of the Gulf of Tonkin.
The need for capital becomes urgent.
As the infrastructure gradually improved, the quality of life of the people and fishermen on the island district was increasingly improved, the need to access capital to expand production and business of the people began to expand. Feeling all the changes in the economic life of the people in each period, Mr. Pham Van Toan - one of the first 62 Youth Volunteers to go to the island said that since the island district developed bustlingly, households had a "thirst" for capital. Living with the sea, the greatest need is to have a boat to go out to sea, but the price is up to several billion VND, where can fishermen get such a large amount of money; the weather on the island is very harsh, even with a boat, fishermen still need capital to maintain, repair, and upgrade long-term fishing boats. If they do not go fishing, people also need capital to buy and sell, store necessities, buy ships to sell gasoline, necessities right at sea... Therefore, they are looking forward to the appearance of credit institutions and banks to meet that need on the island district.
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| The port has a large capacity and is a safe place to take shelter from storms and provide logistical services for fishermen in the Gulf of Tonkin. |
Faced with the urgent needs of the island district, the policies of the Party and the Hai Phong City government have also begun to have ripples. Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Son, Director of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) Hai Phong City Branch, shared that the desire to bring credit capital to Bach Long Vi has been cherished by authorities at all levels as well as the VBSP for a long time. Right from the beginning of his assignment in Hai Phong, he received many opinions related to the plan to allocate capital to the island district, but to implement it, he encountered many difficulties. Firstly, the travel conditions were too difficult, the only official means of transport were military ships and cargo ships. Secondly, bringing capital to the island required carrying a large amount of money on a 7-8 hour long sea voyage, which was too risky.
Despite the difficulties, Bach Long Vi has a strategic position in ensuring security and national defense, each citizen is a "living sovereignty milestone" of the country, so giving priority to people to feel secure in developing the economy, sticking to the sea and sticking to the islands is an urgent task. Therefore, after the meeting of the Board of Representatives in the third quarter of 2016, the head of the board requested to overcome all difficulties and bring social policy credit capital to the island district.
Around October 2016, he and some colleagues officially went to the island by fishermen's cargo ship to conduct a field survey. After 12 hours sitting on the fishermen's ship to the island, he really realized that the people's demand for loans and money transfers was very large, especially loans to solve employment problems. However, people did not access credit at commercial banks due to two reasons: mortgaged assets and the efficiency of using loans. People living on the island district did not have mortgaged assets from land use rights because houses and land were under the management of the State; Difficult travel conditions also make it difficult for bank employees to grasp information about loan needs, appraise assets as well as ensure that capital is used for the right purpose and effectively... This is also the reason why the island district's economy is full of potential and developing vigorously, the demand for loans and services is large, the district People's Committee has invited a number of banks to survey, even signed a memorandum of understanding but no bank has established a branch here.
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| Building and repairing boats is one of the high capital needs of fishermen in coastal areas. |
After a long field survey, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Son reported to Hai Phong City to request the disbursement of the first loan capital of up to several billion VND to Bach Long Vi island district. From the stage of requesting capital until the "sweet" capital flow reached the hands of the island district's people was a challenging journey. However, thanks to the guidance and direction from Directive No. 40-CT/TW dated November 22, 2014 of the Central Secretariat on "strengthening the Party's leadership over social policy credit" and the determination of the Party Committee, the government, and the staff of the VBSP, the first and only loan capital has officially been available in the island district since November 2016.
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| Bach Long Vi people mainly develop their economy by providing fishing logistics services. |
Preferential capital flows bring a new breath of life to the people of Bach Long Vi. Policy credit capital flows are not only money but also hope and motivation for them to develop the marine economy. Fishermen can now invest in modern boats, fully equipped with fishing gear, confidently going offshore to exploit seafood; households expand their production scale, providing fishing logistics services. Each wharf, each full catch of fish is the result of the efforts of the right policy and the solidarity of the whole community. Thanks to that, life on the outpost island is more prosperous, helping them feel secure to stick to the sea and the island, making an important contribution to the implementation of the socio-economic development goals, firmly consolidating the political system of national defense and security in the island district, creating people's trust in the leadership of the Party and the State, the Director of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, Hai Phong City Branch affirmed.
Source: https://thoibaonganhang.vn/dong-von-ngot-giua-trung-khoi-bach-long-vi-bai-1-158474.html
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